Never Tell
by Rochelle B
Summary: Regulus shows up at Sirius and Remus’ home in 1980 with a (pregnant) Muggle. He makes a request of his brother. “I know it’s insane and harsh, but I can’t let them get her. Please Siri, help me this once.” (SiriusRemus, RegulusSort of OFC)


Never Tell (Him I Loved Him)

I don't own Remus, Sirius, or Regulus, or anyone else mentions. I am a member of the good ship Wolfstar, if that's worth anything…

Author: Rochelle B

Series: The Pack

Rating: Pg/Pg-13 ish.

Pairings: Sirius/Remus and Regulus/OFC

Status: Complete but Un-betaed...maybe one day.

Summery: Regulus shows up at Sirius and Remus' home in 1980 with a (pregnant) Muggle. He makes a request of his brother. "I know it's insane and harsh, but I can't let them get her. Please Siri, help me this once."

Notes: I am truly pathetic…I was on , talking about whom the Half-Blood Prince may be. Someone gave a theory and well…it wormed its way into my brain. And yes, I know Regulus is white… I myself am of coco-colored skin tone; while my mother was a light skinned woman and my father was Irish (meaning no skin tone, lol.) so don't get your knickers in a twist people. And the Goddess JKR did say she'd had plans for him (not Regulus) but scrapped them in favor of Neville…and with all these parental sacrifice run amuck…

Okay, done rambling now. On with the story!

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Never Tell Him I Loved Him

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He was sitting on the couch, with Remus' feet were in his lap when the knock came.

They'd decided to spend this Sunday sitting around doing nothing (which was, in reality, how they spent a great many of their days) but Remus, being Remus, had somehow managed to sneak his work from the University out of their bedroom.

Really, Sirius thought with a slight pout, that it was rather unfair of Remus. He didn't bring his writing when they decided to do nothing all day, yet Remus could get away with bringing his homework. It seemed like a foul double standard.

Remus was studying at the Wizarding University of London, on a full academic scholarship Sirius couldn't help but remark smugly whenever someone had a less than kind word for the werewolf, and planned to become of all things a teacher. Sirius had thought it absurd at first, but Remus seemed to be intent on the idea.

Sirius was, unbeknownst to most people, a writer. It didn't pay well, in spite of being a slightly 'glamorized and romantic' profession. Not that it was really glamorous. Thus far it consisted of staying up for days at a time when inspiration struck, lots of proofreading and revision, and annoying deadlines. It did, however, have its romantic qualities.

He'd been known to churn out a soppy love poem or two when the time called for it.

Nonetheless, while Remus poured over his text and took notes, Sirius busied himself massaging Remus' feet. The werewolf was sensitive in a variety of places, one of them being his feet, so if Sirius kept it up there was a good chance he'd be rewarded. Remus squirmed a little, but didn't ask for him to stop. He ran his index finger over the arch of Remus' left foot and got a sharp gasp in response, then a dull thud as Remus' text fell to the floor.

He smirked. Another game won.

Then the knock on the door. Remus blinked, pushing his oval wire-rim glasses up on his nose, and arched an eyebrow in silent question. Sirius shrugged in response, as he certainly hadn't expected any sort of interruption today, and especially not one so late.

It was nearly ten o'clock. Lily and James would be at home, as Lily was around six months pregnant and under strict orders to stay in bed, and Peter would be…well, really, Sirius wasn't sure what Peter got up to when they weren't together. But, nonetheless, he doubted that he'd be around this time of night.

Remus removed his feet and picked up his book, clearly intending for Sirius to open the door. He stared at the werewolf for a moment, to see if he might say anything, but Remus pointedly ignored him. Figured.

He stood up and shuffled over to the door, scratching his chest and muttering less than favorable things about overly pampered wolves, before pulling the door opened. The first thing he was aware of was staring into a face much like his, if not slightly more harried and older looking. (Which was odd, considering their ages…) He scowled, before looking down and noticing the woman standing with his brother. He stared at her; blinked twice, looked back up at his brother, who was resting his hands on her shoulder in an almost protective manner, then back at the woman.

"Uh…Remmie!" He called over his shoulder anxiously.

He heard a deep long-suffering sigh before the sound of light footsteps reached his ears. A second later Remus poked his head out of the living room and Sirius moved aside, to let Remus see what he was seeing. The older man's eyes went round and he started visibly.

Well, as long as he wasn't the only shocked one.

"Sirius." Regulus' voice held a warning edge to it and Sirius arched an eyebrow, sorely tempted to just slam the door in his face.

But Remus was at his side and, with a sharp glance, escorting the woman into the house. Sirius sighed, foiled by his better-tempered lover, and nodded for his brother to come in as well. Regulus did, glancing over his shoulder slightly.

Sometime later Remus had a kettle of water on to boil and they were sitting at the kitchen table, Sirius half glaring at his brother and half unable to keep his eyes off the woman.

She was really quite lovely. If Sirius wasn't hopeless in love and devoted to Remus (And, he'd admit only to himself, half afraid of what the werewolf could do if provoked.) he might have made a pass at her. Her skin was the color of dark coco and she had long fingers, almost like that of an artist. Her hair was thick brown curls, which fell free and wild while pooling around her shoulders. Her eyes were slightly darker hazel color and her full lips tinted a dark red. Her smile was wide and friendly.

"Well, we should introduce ourselves shouldn't we?" Remus said, chuckling nervously, before holding out his hand, which the woman took, her smile never wavering. "This is Sirius, Regulus' brother, as I'm sure you can tell. I'm Remus Lupin, Sirius'…oh…ummm."

"Lover." Her smile turned to one of understanding. "Regulus told me. Not that I would have minded, of course, but I suppose he was worried. I was as well when I introduced him to my brother Dennis and his lover."

Regulus smiled, almost as if he was proud of her, and it gave Sirius' a moment's pause. What in the hell was going on? Regulus' eyes were soft and almost…loving as he watched the woman, and the way his hand rested on the small of her back was one of easy affection. Their bodies were turned to each other just so, and it was plain they were very familiar with each other.

Which, really, explained a lot.

"Well, that's wonderful…" Remus said, breaking the silence that descended. "I'm sorry, what was your name?"

Thank god for a good proper upbringing… Not that Sirius hadn't had one; he just tended to blank on these sort of things.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Psyche Sadusky." She laughed and raked a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry, I'm a bit forgetful sometimes. My mother says it's the curse of being an artist, my mind is always in the clouds."

"You're an artist?" Sirius asked, interested in spite of himself.

"Yes, she's brilliant." Regulus said, breaking in.

She laughed and shook her head, clearly a touch embarrassed. "It's my passion, yes, but I'm not doing anything big yet, though I hope to one day. Right now I'm just drawing the covers for smut novels. I was working at a mural at a teen center in Cork, but I'm afraid I'm rather incapable of climbing ladders and ordering people around right now."

As she spoke she touched her stomach and, if possible, her smile became even wider, showing off straight, even teeth. Sirius nodded and leaned forward some, elbows resting on the table.

"I noticed that. You're rather…round." Remus stomped on his foot and he yelped, glaring at the other man, who scowled at him. Psyche however laughed again.

"That I am. I'm due to give birth soon. Regulus wanted to wait until after the baby came, but I insisted I at least attempt to met his family before." Her smile turned mischievous. "I don't want you thinking I'm after the family fortune or anything after all."

"If you were, you wouldn't be here." Sirius said, returning the smile. He found himself liking the woman. Sure, her taste in men left something to be desired, but she seemed friendly and sweet. "But, if you don't mind, Regulus and I aren't particularly close-"

"I know, but I can't allow my child to not know his family." Her smile withered just slightly. "My father ran away, after my mother had my brother and I, and his family wanted nothing to do with us. I wouldn't wish that on my little one."

"You clearly haven't met the rest of our family." Sirius muttered, "There are times I wish I didn't know them."

She arched an eyebrow, as if she was going to ask, then let out a tiny gasp and coughed. "Sorry to ask, but your bathroom…?"

"That's fine. I have a few cousins who've had children, I have a general idea." Remus said, standing up and offering his hand to help her. She stood up; smoothing her dark blue dress over her stomach then, with one last smile at Regulus, followed Remus out of the kitchen.

Sirius stood up and headed for the teakettle. "She's nice."

"She's perfect." Regulus' tone was almost reverent. Sirius frowned as he poured water into the waiting mugs. This was getting disturbing.

"Why's she with you?"

"No idea." Regulus said, frowning. "She's far too good for me. I never thought one of them could be so…wonderful. And smart, she's brilliant Sirius, you should hear her speak at her college, it's…amazing."

"One of them?" Sirius questioned, sitting back down and offering his brother a cup.

"She's a Muggle."

Sirius blinked. "Muggle-born?" His brother had fallen for a Muggle-Born? Undoubtedly every deceased member of 'The Great and Noble Black Family' was doing cartwheels in their graves. He smiled. Good.

"No." Regulus said, biting his lower lip. "I mean she's a Muggle. Period. Doesn't know that magic exists, that I'm a wizard…any of it."

Sirius stared. "So you've gone mad then? You've joined…them, and then run off to marry a Muggle woman. This, Regulus, is a whole level of stupid that I hadn't thought possible from even you. Really, I'm deeply impressed."

"You can't help who you love." Regulus said softly. Normally the two of them would be a step away from blows for such a remark, but the other man just continued to observe his tea. "I thought that was something you'd understand more than anyone Sirius. Surely if you'd have a choice in the matter, you wouldn't have chosen a werewolf anymore than I a Muggle."

He wanted to smack him, honestly he did. How dare he be right? Sure, he loved Remus, but in a particle sense, no he might not have been his first choice. Sirius had always fancied children of his own, a big family, but there was no way he and Remus could adopt or have a woman carry a child for them. (Or, more to the point, no way _Remus_ could do any of those things.) And Male pregnancy was technically legal in their case, but the risk of passing the curse onto a child wasn't something either really wanted to risk.

He sighed and sat back in his seat. "Why're you here?"

"They want me to kill her. Someone ratted me out…if I knew who I might kill them." His fingers flexed some, as if imaging strangling someone. "But it doesn't matter. I can't stay with her, because they'll hurt her. I'm going to erase her memory, and her brother's and everyone else she had me met. I want you to look after my son for me."

"And where exactly do you plan to be?"

"As far from Cork, Ireland as humanly possible." Regulus looked something that bordered on heartbroken, but the longing look in his eyes was gone in an instant. A pained noise filled the air and Sirius didn't even need to turn to know that Psyche was standing behind them. Regulus kept his eyes trained on the table top but his hands clenched around his cup until Sirius was afraid it may very well shatter.

Feeling a little awkward he reached out and touched the other man's hand and, with a shuddery sigh, Regulus set it down.

"Regulus, I don't understand." Psyche's tone was pleading and searching "What's going on?" She walked in and past Sirius, who turned his head not wanting to see what he was sure was her heartbreaking. If she felt as strong about Regulus as Sirius felt about Remus she was probably on the verge of tears, and that was putting it lightly.

She knelt down some, which had to be a strain, and touched the man's arm. "Regulus, please."

"Psyche I am sorry but-" Regulus' voice broke and he pushed away from the table and stood up, pulling his wand from the confines of his robes. He aimed it at her, but his hand shook. Sirius stood up as well; ready to stop his brother if he started to say something other than a memory-altering spell.

This woman was carrying his nephew after all.

She stayed where she was, but didn't flinch. Her eyes stayed on Regulus, almost as if she were completely unafraid of him hurting her. Or, Sirius reasoned, as if her crazy boyfriend was pointing a stick at her. Probably the latter.

"There are people after me who will kill you because you aren't like us. I wish I could explain, but…" He shrugged helplessly, looking at Sirius.

Who most certainly didn't know what to do either.

Regulus took a breath, as if steeling himself, then spoke softly. "_Obliviate_!"

It struck the woman solidly in the chest and she rocked back, but Regulus was by her side in an instant, holding her up. He reached up, touching her face for a moment, and then dropped his hand.

"Psyche, listen closely. Eight months ago, you did not mean a wonderful man in a club. You met a man and he was horrible. He dragged you into his car and raped you. The child you carry is because of that." Sirius was pretty sure his mouth dropped open and Remus, who must have been nearby, actually gasped. "But it's okay. You ended up engaged to Pluto Thomas. He's not really good enough for you, but he loves you and your child, so you accepted. All of those great memories are with Pluto. You'll never tell your son that Pluto isn't his father, and you'll never lie to him and say that he-" His voice cracked again, but he swallowed and kept talking. "You'll never tell him that I loved him."

He paused, apparently satisfied with that, then whispered something softly and a wavy white light surrounded her. She blinked once then closed her eyes and, seemingly, fell asleep.

"Why'd you tell her that?"

"Because I need her to think I'm terrible. I need her to not look for me." He murmured. He turned, eying Sirius carefully. "I know it's insane and harsh, but I can't let them get her. Please Siri, help me this once."

Sirius was silent for a moment, and then nodded slowly. If Regulus was willing to be something other than a selfish git for a change, far be it for Sirius to piss all over it. Regulus actually smiled at him for a moment, before taking a deep breath and Disapparated with a loud bang.

Sirius stood for a moment then blinked, surprised, when his legs gave out suddenly. Deceptively strong arms wrapped around him and he fell into a welcoming embrace. He didn't say anything, just leaned against the smaller man, who whispered soothing nonsense in his ear.

He wasn't sure he really needed soothing. He was just a little shocked…well, okay, a lot shocked. Regulus, a Muggle woman…his nephew? And never mind his brother suddenly growing a heart, or the fact he was probably putting himself on the line by not killing the woman. And, even more than that, he'd just watched his brother warp this woman's memories, though for better or worse he couldn't really say. Sure, in theory, she was out of danger, but the memory Regulus had implanted…far from a happy one.

He needed some sleep. A lot of sleep.

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Epilogue

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The nurse had watched him stand there, watching the babies in the nursery, for what felt like forever, but was really more like an hour. He didn't have the look of a new father, or even a relative, so much as an anxious searching look. However, instead of calling security, she got up to talk to him.

Besides, he was cute.

"Sir?" She touched his shoulder to show that she indeed meant him, and not one of the other men standing about.

He jerked and stared down at her, moving his hair out of his face while expressive black eyes took her in quickly, before he smiled almost wolfishly. "Yes?"

Someone coughed behind them and she turned to see a smaller and slighter man, with blond-brown hair and golden eyes, leaning against a wall and watching. He'd been there for a while too, but he looked kind of calm and collected and she'd assumed relative. The man next to her snorted and rolled his eyes before looking at her, his smile slightly less suggestive.

"You're looking for someone in particular?" She asked, tone professional, while removing her hand. She wasn't sure why, but she imagined there were bodies of people who'd tried to hit on this man scattered around the country. The other man gave off a very possessive and 'I will hurt you' air.

"Yes. A baby, a boy I believe." The man said, turning back to the window separating them from the infants. "Psyche Sadusky? Or maybe Thomas… Should have been here about a week and a half."

"Ah, I know the one. Quite the lovely girl. Are you a friend?"

"Uncle." He said faintly, watching her with a look that was borderline hopeful.

She arched an eyebrow, mind flashing to the good-looking Black couple, and then shrugged. What the hell. He didn't look crazy, nor did his…partner, and as long as she stayed close… Plus he looked so hopeful, like he'd been waiting for this for a while.

"If you wait a moment, I think I can bring him out?"

She instantly felt like she'd just saved an entire trainload of people, the man's smile was so wide. The other man snorted, but pushed off of the wall and ambled over, a certain air of control coming from him. She wondered at that as she walked into the nursery and picked up the Thomas baby. The other man was bigger, but the brunette had the appearance of someone who had power, but used it subtly.

Or maybe she was over analyzing. Her sister had told her all those psych classes would do that to her…

She walked out and made to hand the man the baby, but he took and step back, hands going up, almost looking afraid. She chuckled, suddenly willing to believe that he was indeed some sort of relation. No one but a first time father, brother, or uncle could look that terrified of holding a child.

"That's fine. What's his name?"

"Dean." She said, even as she shifted the boy so she could see his name bracelet. "Dean Perseus Thomas."

"Not another Roman name." The slight man muttered, putting a hand to his head. "Who the hell comes up with those?"

"Because Remus and Romulus are such excellent names for twins." The taller man snarked.

"At least it fits." The slight man shrugged. "And, you dolt, those are Roman names too. Honestly Sirius…what in the world does Perseus mean? What's the point?"

"What did you expect?"

"I don't know…not Perseus. Dean Perseus…that kid is going to get so much shit growing up."

"Go away. You're ruining my moment here."

"Whatever." The man muttered. The taller man rolled his eyes and, reached over to touch the touch the child. His lips moved for a moment, then he pulled back and, flashing her a smile, took his partner by the arm and started leading him away. She watched, amused, then looked down at the child, who was watching her with unfocused hazel eyes.

She thought, as she walked back into the nursery, that it was odd that seemed to recall his eyes being grayish-blue. She dismissed it however, as she laid him down.

-

-

-

That's right, Dean Thomas, the obscure kid, is Sirius' Nephew!!! BWAHAHAHA!

…I know I've lost my mind. [Sobs pitifully] I couldn't help it! The bunny was just gnawing and gnawing away at my mind like it was some sort of tasty carrot and lettuce flavored treat…should I just delete it and run away?

Names:

Psyche: Eros' wife, eventually. For a period of time she lived in castle and Eros would visit at night, not allowing her to see him. Eros=Regulus…work with me folks.

Pluto: Kidnapped and married Persephone, only to keep her because of a loophole. In this case Pluto Thomas gets and married Psyche because Psyche is 'tricked' by Regulus, after a fashion.

Perseus: Son of Danea, who's father locked them high in a tower after an oracle told him that Danea's son would take over his kingdom. However Zeus, being a huge manslut, visited her in the form of golden rain. Because of this Danae's mother locked them in a wooden box and threw them into the sea.

So Danea and Perseus= Dean Perseus…yeah, Remus is right. He's going to get a lot of shit.

And a parting thought…do you think Remus knew Dean when he taught? Or was it thoroughly jammed in the back of his mind and forgotten about?


End file.
